Life as We Knew it
by Daydreamer897
Summary: AU. BloodClan took over the forest, and only a small group of clan cats survived. Now the future of the clans rests in paws of the next generation. Alliances will be forged, promises made, and the warrior code itself will be tested to its very limits
1. Allegiances

**First of all, to those of you who have read my other stories, this will not be a humor fic. Also, to those of you who are mad at me for starting yet another story while I still have yet to update my others, I'm deeply sorry, but this idea has been bothering me for a while now and it's been distracting me from updating. I figured that getting it written down might help; besides, one can only get so much satisfaction out of only humor writing.**

**On a second, more ****important note****: yes I **_**do **_**realize that not all of the warrior names listed below are cannon. This is because some of the cats were apprentices during the time of the battle with Bloodclan and were later given warrior names by different leaders that are not from the cannon storyline. As I'm sure most of you know, leaders tend to vary in their naming styles. (Example: Ashwhisker = Ashfur named by Brackenstar instead of Firestar) **

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Allegiances

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**Bloodclan**

Leader:

**Scourge**- small black tom with one white paw

Deputy: 

**Bone**- massive black and white tom

Medicine Cats:

**Littlecloud**- small gray and white tom

**Mudfur**- long haired, light brown tom

_**Apprentice: Darkflower**_

Warriors:

**Longtail**- pale tabby tom with dark black stripes (formerly of Thunderclan)

**Dustpelt**- dark brown tabby tom (formerly of Thunderclan)

**Rowanclaw**- ginger tom(formerly Shadowclan)

_**Apprentice: Rockpaw**_

**Cedartail**- dark gray tom(formerly Shadowclan)

**Jaggedtooth**- huge tabby tom (formerly Shadowclan)

_**Apprentice: Badgerpaw**_

**Mudclaw**-mottled dark brown tom (formerly Windclan)

**Webfoot**-dark gray tabby tom (formerly Windclan)

**Whitetail- **small white she-cat (formerly Windclan)

**Blackclaw- **smoky black tom (formerly Riverclan)

**Dawnmist**- pale gray she-cat (formerly Riverclan)

**Mosspelt**-tortoiseshell she-cat (formerly Riverclan)

**Shard**- light gray tom with black paws and ears

_**Apprentice: Harepaw**_

**Mirage**- white tabby she-cat

**Granite**- dark brown longhaired tom with darker flecks

_**Apprentice: Briarpaw**_

**Blaze**- huge dark ginger tom with black paws

**Chaos**- small tortoiseshell tom with strange violet eyes

_**Apprentice: Ratpaw**_

**Sky**- white she-cat with blue eyes

**Thorn**- small black she-cat

**Scar**- white tom with a heavily scarred face. Blind in one eye

_**Apprentice: Stumblepaw**_

**Hawk- **light tabby brown she-cat

**Screech**- golden brown tom with darker patches

Apprentices:

**Badgerpaw**- black and white tom

**Rockpaw**- gray and black mottled tom

**Harepaw**- light brown she-cat

**Stumblepaw**- white tom with crippled hind paw

**Ratpaw**- dark gray tabby she-cat with silver eyes

**Briarpaw**- long haired golden brown tom with faint tabby markings

**Darkflower**- black tabby she-cat with icy blue eyes and silver paws (medicine cat apprentice)

Queens:

**Mist**- gray and white she-cat (mother of Eaglekit and Shrewkit)

**Pebble**- tortoiseshell she-cat (mother of Nightkit, Minnowkit, and Redkit)

**Shadepelt**- very dark gray she-cat (formerly of Riverclan) (mother of Smallkit, Thrushkit, and Fleetkit)

**Note: Bloodclan is actually bigger than this, but to keep the allegiances short and to the point, I'm only listing those who were formerly clan cats or play a role in the story. **

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**Lionclan**

Leader:

**Brackenstar**- golden brown tabby tom

Deputy:

**Ravenwing**- sleek black tom

_**Apprentice: Lightningpaw**_

Medicine cat: 

**Cinderpelt**- dark gray she-cat

_**Apprentice: Rainpaw**_

Warriors

**Sandstorm**- pale ginger she-cat

**Cloudtail**- long-haired white tom

**Ashwhisker**- pale gray tom with darker flecks, dark blue eyes

_**Apprentice: Reedpaw**_

**Mistyfoot**- dark gray she-cat, blue eyes

_**Apprentice: Wolfpaw**_

**Stormfur**- dark gray tom

**Featherheart**- light gray she-cat

_**Apprentice: Cloverpaw**_

**Onewhisker**- brown tabby tom

_**Apprentice: Adderpaw**_

**Ashfoot-**gray she-cat

**Tawnypelt**- tortoiseshell she-cat

**Russetfur**- dark ginger she-cat

_**Apprentice: Emberpaw**_

**Smokepelt**- gray and white tom

**Sunstreak**- bright ginger she-cat

Apprentices:

**Rainpaw**- light gray she-cat with darker flecks (medicine cat apprentice)

**Emberpaw**- black tom with dark ginger patch his around left eye.

**Reedpaw**- small black tom with white tail tip

**Lightningpaw**- pale ginger she-cat.

**Cloverpaw**- mottled brown she-cat

**Adderpaw**- Tortoiseshell and white tom

**Wolfpaw**- dusky gray she-cat

Queens:

**Brightheart**- ginger and white she-cat with a scarred face. (Mother of Nettlekit and Dewkit.)

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**The prologue will be posted some time tomorrow (Oct. 28.) In the meantime, feel free to tell me if this is a good idea or not. **


	2. Prologue

Prologue

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Blood!

The scent clung to the air, choking his lungs, making him want to wretch. _Great Starclan! _He thought, staring out at the chaos from where he sat crouched in a thick bush. The ground below Four trees was covered in blood, the bodies of his former clan mates and friends laying in the dirt. _How could something like this be possible? _

"Ravenpaw!" a soft voice whispered, making him nearly jump out of his fur. A strangled yowl escaped his mouth.

"Quiet mousebrain!" a different voice snapped. "Do you want to give us away?"

Ravenpaw's heart slowed slightly. He knew that grouchy voice, he could recognize it anywhere. He turned his head, eyes wide with fear, and saw them crouched a few tail lengths away from him. Sandstorm and Cinderpelt. How had he not heard their arrival?

He opened his mouth to reply, but the words died in his throat as he saw the grief on their faces, the very same grief that was making him tremble.

"We lost." It was all he could manage to say.

"Yes." Cinderpelt mewed softly, her head downcast. "We lost."

"Firestar, is he…"

"Yes." Cinderpelt's voice shook. "He's dead. Scourge killed him. Nine lives gone in one battle. Just like…" she trailed off, anger flaring in her blue eyes.

"Yeah." Sandstorm growled, "Just like Tigerstar."

The three fell into a grim silence. Ravenpaw stared out at the battle field miserably.

"Where did the Bloodclan cats go?" he asked.

"Who knows?" Sandstorm mewed, her voice sounding strangely blank. "Probably off to raid the Clan camps and make sure no one is left."

"A few survived." Cinderpelt protested. "Scourge allowed a few to live, as long as they joined him…"

"If they joined him then they are traitors!" Sandstorm said harshly. "I would rather die as a warrior defending my clan than live to serve that foxhearted murderer!"

Suddenly, Sandstorm's body began to tremble, and her eyes seemed almost glazed. "He killed him." she whispered. "He killed Firestar."

Ravenpaw looked on in confusion, baffled by the emotions in her voice. _Sandstorm loved Firestar? _

"Hush." Cinderpelt said soothingly, though she looked every bit as shaken. "Firestar fought bravely. Now he lives on in Starclan. We will see him again someday."

"Sooner rather than later if we hang around here much longer." Ravenpaw pointed out, feeling as if he were intruding.

"Where will we go?" Sandstorm whispered.

"Back to the barn with me of course." Seeing the looks of discontent on their faces, he added, "At least, until we figure something else out."

"H-Hello?" a small voice called from somewhere nearby. "Fernpaw? Dustpelt?"

Ravenpaw stiffened, but the she-cats seemed almost relieved.

"Ashpaw, is that you?" Cinderpelt called.

There was a short pause, then, "Cinderpelt? Cinderpelt, is that you? Where are you?"

"Over here, in the bushes."

A few moments later, they were joined by a young tom, Ashpaw, Ravenpaw recognized.

"Sandstorm! Cinderpelt! Ravenpaw!" Ashpaw mewed in relief. "I thought I was alone."

"Calm down." Cinderpelt mewed. "We're in this together."

"Calm down? _Calm down_?" Ashpaw's eyes narrowed. "My sister is missing, our clan mates are lying dead, and you want me to _calm down_?"

"Hush." Sandstorm hissed. "If we aren't quiet we might be dead too!"

Ashpaw whimpered, but didn't offer a response.

"We need to get out of this bush." Ravenpaw said thoughtfully. "There could be others left; cats like Ashpaw wandering around looking for clanmates. We need to converge, we'd stand a better chance together."

Sandstorm sighed shakily. "You're right. We should look for any other survivors; then head out after nightfall. I'm not comfortable with traveling by day, especially since we'll be crossing the moor."

"Right." Ravenpaw said, seeing that everyone was looking at him expectantly. "Let's go then."

One by one, they silently crawled from their hiding place, blinking in the sunlight, and wincing as a fresh breeze wafted the fresh scent of blood toward them.

"What will happen to us?" Ashpaw asked, despair in his voice. "What do we do?"

Ravenpaw stared out over the battlefield. His friends were dead. The clans were no more. The warrior code was dead. There was no way he could just return to his simple life at the barn, especially since his friend Barley had been among the fallen. So, what _would _they do?

The light was already beginning to fade from the sky, and the first stars of Silverpelt were starting to appear. Tonight there would be many more stars than usual.

"Now," he said, "we survive."


	3. Chapter 1

**Thank you to gd and brokenpretzels for reviewing!**

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**Chapter One**

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The white flakes fluttered in the breeze, twirling and dancing in the air before drifting to the ground.

"What is it?" the apprentice, Lightningpaw, asked, staring at the growing piles of white powder on the hard, stone-like ground.

"Snow." Ravenwing said, purring in amusement at the awed way she stared at the flakes. "It falls every leaf-bare."

"Where does it come from though?" she wondered, shivering as another snowflake landed on her nose.

"The same place as rain, I suppose. Up in the sky where Starclan is."

_Starclan_. The word sent an entirely different kind of shiver up her spine. She had heard many stories of the warrior ancestors that once guided the four clans and (supposedly) now watched over the small remainder of what was left of them.

"But I thought Starclan was only there at night!" Lightningpaw protested, shaking her ginger pelt to clear off the icy frost that had begun to form.

"Starclan is always there." Her mentor said patiently. "We just can't see them during the day."

"But how do you know?"

"Starclan is _always _watching over us."

"But how can you be _sure_?"

Ravenwing sighed and gave her a disapproving look, the same that he always used when she was asking too many questions.

"Sorry." Lightningpaw sighed. "It's all just so confusing!"

The world had seemed so simple when its boundaries didn't extend beyond the boundaries of the camp. She had only been an apprentice for five sunrises, and already it seemed as if the world were endless, filled with secrets and questions with no answers.

"You'll get the hang of it." Ravenwing promised. "Now, tell me what you can smell."

Lightningpaw screwed up her face in concentration and inhaled the brisk air. It was hard to smell _anything _over the rancid stench of monsters that clung to Twoleg place, but she didn't tell Ravenwing that. She didn't want to disappoint her mentor.

"I smell rats. And something else…" she wrinkled her nose at the strange scent.

"That would be a dog. But don't worry, those are all over the place; a lot of twolegs keep them in their nests, and the scent isn't fresh."

The fur on Lightningpaw's neck rose, despite Ravenwing's reassurance. She had heard stories from some of the warriors about a dog pack that had gotten loose in one of the clan territories once. She had had nightmares for almost an entire moon filled with snarling beasts.

"Anything else?" Ravenwing asked, oblivious to her discomfort.

Lightningpaw concentrated hard, parting her jaws and inhaling the scents around her. There was nothing really, the same stinking twoleg scents, the smell of smoke in the very distance, nothing unusual… A sudden gust of icy wind brought with it an unfamiliar scent. Lightningpaw froze, her eyes narrowing. Ravenwing visibly stiffened by her side.

"What's that?" Lightningpaw asked.

"Bloodclan." Ravenwing breathed.

The apprentice's eyes widened. Bloodclan was a legend of sorts in the nursery. The clan of rouges that had all but destroyed the original four. Scourge, the evil cat who had killed four clan leaders in one battle. The clan that had forced them into a scarce life in Twolegplace.

"Bloodclan." Lightningpaw growled, feeling the hatred that knotted in her stomach every time the evil clan was brought to mind. She knew it seemed almost irrational; technically she wasn't even clan born. She had never known any of the cats who had died in the battle, apart from stories; she had never even seen the original territories.

But she had seen the after affects on her clanmates, the regret and sorrow in their eyes, and that was enough.

"It's not fresh." Ravenwing mewed softly, misinterpreting her change in mood. "It must have just carried over from the moor. Nothing to worry about."

"Of course not." Lightningpaw said indignantly. She didn't want her mentor to think that she was frightened kit. Warriors weren't supposed to be afraid of their enemies. Especially when their enemies didn't even know of their existence.

The rivalry between Lionclan (that was what they called themselves, though Lightningpaw had heard Cloudtail and Ashwhisker many times commenting that technically they wouldn't qualify as a _real _clan) and Bloodclan was a complicated one, as Sandstorm, her foster mother had explained on one occasion. Lionclan hated Bloodclan; it was sort of part of their purpose for existing in the first place. The small resisting clan that was Lionclan was made up of the few survivors of the great war between Bloodclan and the original four forest clans that had united as one in a brave fight to protect their home. They had failed, and the survivors had either joined Bloodclan or fled to Twoleg place where, under the guidance of Ravenwing (Ravenpaw then) they learned to adapt to surviving among the hard stone and rancid stench of twolegs and their monsters.

At first, prey had been scarce, hardly ever found outside of the old barn on the edge of their territory, but as the seasons progressed, the clan learned to survive as one, hunting where they could and keeping to the shadows.

Meanwhile, Bloodclan ruled the forest, enjoying the prey and territory that had supported the original clans for generations. As far as any of the Lionclan knew, Bloodclan had no idea of their existence, and had never seemed concerned enough to hunt down the small group of survivors that had fled the battle so many seasons ago.

Lionclan was, in essence an invisible clan. A clan that was hardly even a true clan.

"We should go." Ravenwing mewed suddenly, bringing Lightningpaw out of her thoughts. "It's getting late."

"Right." Lightningpaw said. For the first time she noticed that the sky was beginning to grow dark. A brief stab of disappointment flashed through her chest, but it disappeared as another gust of wind made her shiver. She had had enough cold for one day. "Should we go ahead and catch something on the way back?"

"No." Ravenwing shook his head. "I doubt that we'll find anything in this weather, and there is hardly anything to be caught on a nice day anyway. Besides, I think that Brackenstar will be sending a hunting patrol out to the barn tonight." Hunting patrols were more often sent out at night when there were less twolegs and monsters around.

Lightningpaw nodded and followed her mentor back toward home, staring down at the bold tracks her paws left in the freshly fallen snow. They dodged across thunderpaths, keeping low and moving fast. They skirted twoleg nests and sprinted through winding paths, the rancid smells and roaring sounds of monsters never far behind them.

As they rounded the last bend and the camp came into view, she paused imagining the ever distant moor land that seemed to stretch on forever. Beyond it, she knew was the forest, and the old territories. The former home of all the warriors of Starclan, and most of the warriors of what was now Lionclan. She turned and scrutinized the makeshift camp in front of her, an ancient abandoned twoleg nest that stood a little farther from all the others. The walls of the thing were beginning to crumble, and looked as if a strong wind would blow them right over. The roof was patched with holes. The place creaked at night, and stank of mold, but at least it kept the cold out and sheltered them from the weather and any wondering twolegs.

"What took you so long?" a voice demanded before Lightningpaw had even gotten three steps past the entrance.

Lightningpaw scowled mockingly and looked up at the young tom who had spoken, narrowing her eyes skeptically when she caught sight of the precarious way he was perched one of the high, oddly shaped wooden beam that spread from one end of the nest to the other.

"I was out patrolling with Ravenwing." She told him. "It started to snow."

"Snow?" the tom asked, cocking his head to the side in a comical way. "Oh, so _that's _the white stuff falling from the sky. I tried asking Russetfur about it while I was training, but she only glared at me and told me to 'focus more on battle moves and less on the weather.'"

Lightningpaw purred. "That sounds like Russetfur alright. Hey, what are you doing up there? Are you hoping that you'll sprout wings and fly?"

The tom got a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, if I did, then Brackenstar would have to change my name from Emberpaw to Flyingpaw!"

Lightningpaw rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't change your entire name mouse-brain! He'd just give you a weird warrior name."

"Like what? Emberflight? Emberbird? Emberfeather?"

"Embersky, Emberwing, Emberfall," Ligthningpaw chimed in.

"Ember_fall_?" Emberpaw gave her an odd look.

"You can try all you want to fly mouse-brain, but that doesn't mean you will actually _succeed_. The most you'll accomplish is falling and breaking your neck."

"Oh, will you two be _quiet_?" Cloudtail growled from somewhere close by. "_Some _of us have the dawn patrol and would _like _to get some sleep."

"Sorry," the two apprentices muttered, though neither really meant it. Sighing in exasperation, Lightningpaw carefully made the climb up next to Emberpaw.

"There, happy? Now, besides trying to fly, why are you up here?"

"Are you kidding?" Emberpaw gave her a surprised look. "You can see the entire camp from up here!"

"Yeah, if you don't fall and break your neck on the way up." Lightningpaw chastised him, though, she had to admit, he was right. You _could _see the entire camp.

Far below them she spotted the fresh kill pile, pitifully small with only a thrush and a skinny rat. It was a good thing that there were still plenty of mice around in the barn because they sure weren't getting prey from elsewhere. Off in the corner was the nursery, lined with hay and feathers. Across from it was the medicine cat's den, nothing more than two small nests in the opposite corner with a few small bundles of herbs stacked next to them. Then there was the warriors' den, a few scattered nests built under a small wooden platformmthat was suspenede by four rotting legs. The apprentices den was a large creavase in one of the rotting walls. And that left Brackenstar's den, a solitary nest separated from the rest of the nest by the remains of a crumbling sort of barrier that at one time might have dived the place into several large dens. In the middle of it all was the tallpile, a small pile of rubble from the decaying nest that Brackenstar stood on when he addressed the clan.

Lightningpaw knew from Sandstorm's stories that it was a poor imitation of a _real _camp (it was in a twoleg nest for Starclan's sake!) But it was all that they had to work with.

"What do you think the real camp was like?" Emberpaw asked suddenly, as if reading her mind.

"Which real camp? Riverclan, Shadowclan, Windclan, or Thunderclan?"

"Thunderclan of course. That's where my parents were born."

Lightningpaw nodded thoughtfully. "I don't know. I guess bigger, and better supplied. More cats and actual dens instead of just nests on the ground. Why don't you ask your dad?"

Emberpaw stiffened. "Oh, well, that's alright, it wasn't really a serious question."

Lightningpaw knew better though. She had grown up in the nursery with Emberpaw; his mother, Sandstorm had suckled her after she had been brought to the clan. The two had been best friends from the start, and she could read his emotions like Cinderpelt could read omens.

"Why don't you want to ask him?" she asked. "Ravenwing hardly ever gets mad; he won't yowl at you for asking questions like Russetfur does. I should know; I have him for a mentor."

Emberpaw shook his head. "It's nothing, just drop it."

Lightningpaw gave him a hard look, but didn't pursue the subject. Whatever was going on between Emberpaw and his father wasn't her business.

"Look!" she said suddenly, noticing a small, even hole in the top of the nest at their head level. The sky had now grown completely dark. "You can see Silverpelt from here!"

Emberpaw followed her gaze. "You can sort of see the moor too. It looks so big!"

Lightningpaw stared longingly at the small patch of land stretched out at the very top of the horizon, barely visible past all of the nests and confusing structures of Twolegplace. "I wonder what it was like for Windclan, living out in the open like that."

"Ugh, I wouldn't want to live like that! How would they stalk prey in the open?"

"They didn't _stalk_ prey mouse-brain; they chased it down. And _I _think it would be nice to live on the moor. You can always see the stars there. _All _of the stars; Cinderpelt says that we can only see a small few from here in Twolegplace for some reason. There are many, many more out there."

Emberpaw snorted. "You can have the moor. I'd rather live under the trees any day."

"That's good," Lightningpaw teased, "because of that black pelt of yours, you'd be easily spotted in the open."

Emberpaw huffed indignantly. "Whatever. I'm going to bed, I have dawn patrol in the morning too, and I don't want to get scolded by Russetfur for being slow because I'm exhausted."

"Good night." Lightningpaw mewed. "Just make sure that you don't fall on your way down; I don't want to have to explain to Russetfur that her apprentice got himself killed while trying to fly."

Emberpaw shot her a sour look. "Hey! I made it up here didn't I? I can find my way safely back down." And with that he turned and walked away, his dark pelt barely visible in the half-light.

Lightingpaw rolled her eyes and turned to stare back out at sky.

_Can you hear me Starclan?_ She asked mentally. _Are you really there?_If there was a response of any kind, Lightningpaw sure didn't notice it. That was okay though; sometimes you didn't need a response to know that someone was listening.

Countless stars twinkled back at her, countless warriors of Starclan, in addition to the many others that Cinderpelt claimed they couldn't see. How could that be possible? How was there room for them all up there? How could you tell which one was which?

She had spent many nights before, as a kit, imagining her father up there in the sky, his own star among countless others. Her father hadn't been a warrior for long, only two moons or so. He had joined Lionclan's ranks after his mate, Lightningpaw's mother, had died, and he was looking for help, looking for anyone that could look after the young kits he had been left with. He had brought Lightningpaw and her brother, Sage, to the abandoned nest in an effort to shelter them when he met the clan cats, who took all three of them in. Sandstorm and Tawnypelt (who had just recently kitted themselves) agreed to suckle her and her brother and their father began training. Sage died of illness shortly after they arrived, and her father was killed by a monster.

Lightningpaw couldn't remember either of them very well, so she didn't miss them much, but every now and then, when thoughts of Starclan crossed her mind, she couldn't help but wonder. Had they made it? Were they in Starclan? Could they see her now, a full fledge apprentice? And what of her mother? Where was she since she was not a clan cat?

The thoughts in Lightningpaw's head began to blur together as weariness began to close in. Her eyes began to droop shut, harder and harder to force open each time. One last glimpse of the moor penetrated her mind. The moor, Windclan's old territory. Beyond it, the other clan's old territories.

A light breeze brushed her fur, carrying with it the awful scent from before. The old territories were no more; the original clans were dead. All that the moor and the forests stood for now was a sign of Bloodclan's power, a memory of Scourge did.

Her last conscious thought before falling asleep was that, if Starclan was real why did they let horrible things happen?

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**Please let me know what you think. Since I already have several stories that I'm writing I won't continue this unless people like.**


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter two

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The hunter stalked through the forest, silent as the shadows around him. Through the trees he crept, his paws gliding over the ground, his body tensed in a crouch. His quarry, a plump mouse, sat only fox lengths away, too preoccupied with searching for seeds to notice the predator creeping closer with each passing moment.

_A little closer, just a little closer…_

Bit by bit, the tom crept closer, his green eyes glowing in the half light. Only a fox length away from his prey, he prepared to spring, his claws unsheathing in anticipation…

Somewhere off in the bushes, a twig snapped, and the mouse scuttled away in alarm.

"Fox-dung!" Briarpaw spat, his eyes narrowing in frustration. "Be more careful you mouse-brain! I _almost _had it that time."

A rustling sound came from the bushes, and a small white tom crept out from the under growth, an embarrassed look on his face.

"Sorry Briarpaw, I keep getting tripped up in all of this undergrowth…" The smaller tom cast a resentful look at his crippled hind paw.

"Sorry catches no prey. If we don't hunt, we don't eat."

"Then why don't we hunt somewhere with less things to trip me up?" his comrade suggested. "It's not like the forest is the only place with prey."

Briarpaw sighed heavily. "A good hunter must be able to hunt in different environments. We have to be able to take advantage of _all _of our resources, Stumblepaw. At least, that's what Granite always says."

Stumblepaw huffed. "Granite has bees in his brain. Not all of us are as adaptable as he is."

"Oh, just forget it. Fine, we'll go to another area to hunt."

"Now you're talking sense. Let's go to the river!" Stumblepaw said brightly, starting to walk off in the direction of the river.

"No." Briarpaw wrinkled his nose. "Fish are disgusting. I don't get how you can possible stand to eat that crowfood."

Stumblepaw batted him over the head playfully, and then lost his balance and almost fell over. "Fish is wonderful. How can _you_ stand to eat squirrels? It's a pain eating something with that much fur."

Briarpaw rolled his eyes. "Fine, we'll go to the river. But if you fall in again, I'm not jumping in to save you." Sticking his chin in the air stubbornly, he started leading the way through the forest.

"Yes you would." Stumblepaw said plainly, struggling to catch up.

"And what makes you say that?"

Stumblepaw purred in amusement. "Mouse-brain, I know you wouldn't let your own brother drown."

"Keep getting on my nerves; then we'll see if that theory holds."

Stumblepaw stopped walking and gave him a hard look. "You're no fun anymore, not since we became apprentices."

Briarpaw snorted. "It's a little hard to be 'fun' while trying to survive. We aren't in the nursery anymore Stumblepaw, no one is going to stick their neck out for us."

"You make it sound horrible to be an apprentice."

The bigger tom shot his brother a look, and continued walking. "It isn't. But it's not all mice and moonlight either."

"But we get to do battle training." Stumblepaw pointed out. "Battle training is great."

A low growl rumble in Briarpaw's throat, making both of them stop short. "Battle training isn't supposed to be entertaining. There isn't anything entertaining about learning to defend yourself from enemies."

An image flashed through his head, the roaring of twoleg monsters and their rancid stench. The flashing of claws in the moonlight, blood, and furious shrieks. His mother's cry…

Briarpaw shook his head, as if the simple gesture would clear the thoughts from his mind. His gaze fell on his smaller brother, looking so bright and cheerful despite the fact that his future in the clan was so uncertain. Bloodclan had only one real rule: survival of the fittest. Weakness wasn't tolerated. If Scourge thought that any cat was holding the survival of their clan back, he would eliminate the problem. The mere fact that Briarpaw and his brother had been let into the clan had been a stroke of luck; many of the clan's kits had been wiped out during that leaf-bare from illness, and the clan needed members. If it hadn't been for the fact that Bloodclan needed kits, the two of them probably would have been killed on sight for trespassing.

Briarpaw himself didn't have to worry about anything; he was a strong, healthy apprentice now, and as the warriors viewed him, an asset to the clan. Stumblepaw was a different story though. His crippled hind paw made it hard to hunt on his own, and fighting was a major difficulty. So far the warriors hadn't done anything about Stumblepaw's disability, but their dissatisfaction was clear. While Stumblepaw could fight on a minimal level, and hunt fish, things would be a lot worse for him is he didn't have Briarpaw to stand up for him. The brothers could only hope that that Scourge didn't take a particular interest in the issue.

"Come on." Briarpaw grunted, giving his pelt another shake. "Let's get to the river before sunset. If we're back at dusk, maybe we can hang out with Littlecloud before going to sleep for the night."

Stumblepaw needed no further persuasion, and took off, going as fast as his crippled leg would allow. Briarpaw sighed at his brother's enthusiasm. Nothing ever seemed to damper his spirits, not even the hollow feeling of hunger that had haunted their paw steps all leaf-bare. He was as bright and carefree, still holding the pure innocent nature of a kit even though they had been apprentices for a few moons now.

And perhaps that was why Briarpaw would do anything to protect his brother, to shelter him from the harsh realities of the real world for as long as he possibly could. Because it was that innocent nature that he saw shining in his smaller brother's eyes, the carefree kithood that he had left behind the moment their mother had been killed, and he took charge of their survival.

* * *

The sun had already begun to sink below the horizon by the time the two brothers had finished hunting and started the trek back toward their nests, following the river. It had been a long day, and all Briarpaw wanted to do was curl up and sleep for the next moon. But of course things were never that simple.

"But you said we could go see Littlecloud!" Stumblepaw whined, flicking his tail in irritation.

Briarpaw groaned. "Come on, it's late! Granite will claw my tail off if I'm late for battle training, and I doubt that your mentor will be very pleased if you're too tired to see straight."

"He won't care." Stumblepaw muttered looking downcast for once. "He doesn't think I have what it takes to be a warrior."

The sullen look on his brother's usually euphoric face was enough to make Briarpaw's expression soften slightly. Inwardly, he berated himself. He could convince an entire clan to except them in to their ranks, but he couldn't find the words to comfort his own littermate.

Silence hung in the air between them like a heavy fog.

Finally Briarpaw could stand it no more. "Alright, _fine_. We'll go see Littlecloud. But don't complain when –"

"Yes!" Stumblepaw purred, and took off again, trudging awkwardly along the river's edge, his paws leaving faint prints in the frozen ground.

_I'm going to regret this. _Briarpaw told himself, shaking his head and trying to stifle the purr rising in his throat. It was amazing how easily pleased some cats were.

As if on cue, tiny white flakes began to fall from the sky, dancing and twirling in the air in a showy fashion before gently nestling on the ground. Stumblepaw stared up at them in wonder.

"Snow." He whispered, his whiskers twitching in absolute delight. Though neither of them had ever seen snow for themselves, Briarpaw could remember their mother telling them about it in that wistful voice of hers. She had always had a way of making things sound a lot better than they really were.

A small flake settled on Briarpaw's nose, and he flicked it off, glaring up at the sky in apprehension. "Yuck! It's _cold_. And wet. " He detested both qualities.

"You're no fun at all!" Stumblepaw huffed, fluffing up his white pelt against the chilly air.

Briarpaw didn't acknowledge Stumblepaw's comment, and instead urge him forward, moving on. "Hurry up. The medicine cats' island is up ahead."

The two of them scampered along the muddy bank until came to it, a bend in the river, and a small island surrounded by reeds on all sides.

The two winced at they plunged into the water, making for the island. The river was very shallow here, but Stumblepaw was small for his age, and the icy water lapped at his chin, his paws barely touching the bottom. Briarpaw wasn't much better off.

"Why do the medicine cats have to live _here_?" Briarpaw grumbled as they reached the shore and pushed the thick wall of reeds.

Stumblepaw wasn't listening though, and was already trudging his way unsteadily across the clearing toward a small group of nests built in a thick patch of reeds, where the medicine cats slept. The entire island was almost empty otherwise, except for a few other scattered nests occupied by injured cats, most of which were already sleeping. Stacks of herbs could be seen scattered everywhere, and their heavy scents clung to Briarpaw's nose making him dizzy.

"Stumblepaw, Briarpaw. Good to see you." A small tabby tom, Littlecloud, greeted them warmly, looking up from a stack of herbs he had been sorting.

Stumblepaw's deep green eyes glowed as the two of them sat down next to the medicine cat. "Nothing, we just thought we would come by and visit."

At this Briarpaw snorted, and Stumblepaw flicked him on the shoulder with his tail. Stumblepaw had always admired Littlecloud; he was one of the few cats in the clan who didn't look down on him for his disability, and Briarpaw had never seen his brother as happy as he was when he was in the medicine clearing, surrounded by the overwhelming scent of herbs and hearing Littlecloud tell them stories. No matter how much he tried, Briarpaw just couldn't understand his enthusiasm.

"Do you like being a medicine cat?" Stumblepaw asked. For some reason he never could seem to stop asking questions when they talked to Littlecoud.

The medicine cat's eyes shined with amusement. "Yes, taking care of cats is my calling." His eyes wondered around the clearing, going from proud, to sad, to anguished with each passing glance.

"But you aren't happy, though." Briarpaw observed.

Littlecloud sighed. "Well, you're a perceptive one. No, I'm not."

"But why?" Stumblepaw asked, looking confused. "I thought taking care of other cats was what you wanted."

"It is." Littlecloud whispered, his eyes flickering from one injured cat to the. Most were only there for mild reasons; sprained paws, scratches, colds. It was uncommon for cats with more serious injuries that were less likely to recover to survive long. "But not like this."

"What do you mean?"

Briarpaw cuffed his brother on the head. "I'm sure that we've bothered Littlecloud enough with your questions."

"No, it's fine. I don't mind." Littlecloud assured them, though his gaze kept jumping to where the other medicine cats lie sleeping in their nests. "It's just; I wish that I could do more for them. The injured warriors I mean. Herbs are hard to come by in leaf-bare, and it's hard for only three cats to gather enough herbs for a clan as large as this, even in green-leaf." Suddenly, his voice turned wistful. "In the old days, warriors used to help medicine cats gather herbs, and there weren't so many cats to a clan. Many more cats survived."

"The old days?" Briarpaw asked before he could help himself.

Littlecloud's eyes widened, and he cast another nervous glance back at the other two sleeping medicine cats, his eyes lingering on Darkflower, his apprentice. His voice became hushed, and the two apprentices had to lean in closer to hear it.

"Yes, back before Bloodclan. Before Scourge came to the forest."

"What are you talking about?" Briarpaw demanded. "I thought the forest had always belonged to Bloodclan. There were cats here before us?"

"Yes." Littlecloud said patiently, his voice barely a whisper. "We're not supposed to talk about it; it's forbidden. But there were clans before this one. That's part of the reason you bare clan names and why apprentices are trained by mentors. When Bloodclan came, they shattered the clans, but did not destroy them completely. Some of the survivors joined Bloodclan, and through them some of the old traditions have been kept alive."

Briarpaw's head was spinning. "Why are you telling us this if it is forbidden?"

"I don't know." He admitted, his eyes cast upward at the stars. "Maybe it's just nostalgia, or maybe wishful thinking. But I look at the young cats of this clan and I see hatred and fear and anguish, and that is no way to live." Suddenly, Littlecloud looked down at them, his eyes shining. "And when I look at you brothers, I see loyalty and courage, and I see in you hope."

Briarpaw stood, turning his back on Littlecloud, thoroughly unnerved. Suddenly, he didn't want to be in the medicine clearing anymore; he wanted to be far, far away. "Come on Stumblepaw, we should go."

Ignoring his brother's mews of protest, Briarpaw set off across the clearing, feeling Littlecloud's gaze burn in to his back the entire way. At the edge of the reeds, he hesitated, glancing back to make sure that Stumblepaw was following.

His eyes locked on one of the medicine cats, curled up in her nest, her black pelt almost invisible in the shadows and her silver paws tucked neatly underneath her. Her icy blue eyes stared straight at Littlecloud. She definitely didn't look nearly as asleep as she had been pretending to be a moment before.

Briarpaw shuddered. _Darkflower._

As if she could hear his thoughts, the she-cat's eyes suddenly met his, piercing blue eyes that could only belong to one other cat. Yes, she had inherited her name from her mother, who had died shortly after her birth, but her eyes and the air she held about her she had definitely inherited from her father.

Briarpaw felt the fur on the back of his neck rise, and he turned and leaped raced through the reeds and in to the river, ignoring Stumblepaw's yowl of protest. _Calm down mouse-brain_. He told himself. _She's a medicine cat; she's not going to claw your ears off._

But worry stabbed at Briarpaw's heart, because he was sure, positive that he had seen a knowing gleam in her eyes, a self-satisfied look that a hunter might give mouse trapped in between his claws, just before delivering the killing blow.

One glance at the look on Darkflower's face and Briarpaw was certain that she had heard every word that Littlecloud had told them.

* * *

**Sorry for the lateness, school has been crazy. Now that midterms are over though, updates should be more frequent. Then again… that also depends on how many reviews I get. **

**To those of you who also read my other story, ****The Truth About Warriors, ****I promise an update is coming soon. My sarcastic side has taken a nose dive from school stress. I'll try and have a chapter up before Christmas. **


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three

* * *

**

White mist hung in the air, making it heavy with cold moisture that clung to Emberpaw's pelt, weighing him down as he dodged to the side, barely avoiding a blow to the side of the head. The tall grass whipped around him wildly, strands waving over his head. He couldn't see his rival well, and the thick, wet scent still lingering after snow had changed to wet slush drowned out all scents. Flakes of slushy snow swirled in the air still, making visibility still worse. They were fighting blind.

Emberpaw narrowed his eyes against the fog, ducking as Adderpaw made another swipe at him. Lashing his tail, Emberpaw barely caught a flicker of red tortoiseshell out of the corner of his eye amongst the grass and sleet and lunged forward, striking randomly and hoping to make a blow of some kind. His paws met empty air, and he felt a sharp jab in his ribs as Adderpaw turned, spotted him, and stuck.

Hissing in frustration, Emberpaw pounced at where Adderpaw had been standing. All he managed to catch was grass. Suddenly, Adderpaw came up behind him and pinned him to the ground.

"No, no, _no_!" Russetfur's angry hiss made him flinch. "What are you _doing _Emberpaw? Are you fighting Adderpaw or the grass?"

Emberpaw's fur felt hot with embarrassment. "This is mouse-brained!" he yowled, pushing Adderpaw off of him. "You can't see a thing out here for Starclan's sake!"

A heavy sigh met his ears, followed by the sound of paws hitting the ground as Russetfur and Onewhisker jumped down from the rock they had been perched on, watching them from just above the cloud of fog. The grass waved around wildly as the two warriors approached, and suddenly Russetfur was nose to nose with him.

"This is important!" Russetfur snapped. "You need to learn to rely on your other senses, as well as sight."

"That's mouse-brained!" Emberpaw argued, not flinching from her furious gaze. "What sane cat would fight in fog this thick?"

"You don't get to choose your battle field!" Russetfur growled. "You must be prepared for anything your enemies through at you."

Emberpaw lashed his tail in exasperation. "_What _enemies?" he yowled, feeling his blood boiling in his veins. "Who in their right mind would want to take this territory form us? Not even the _rouges _want it!"

A deep growl rumbled through Russetfur's chest and glowered at her apprentice. She looked like she probably would have pounced on him, had Onewhisker stepped in.

"Now's not the time to be fighting." Onewhisker said calmly. "That's enough training for today. We'll continue once the weather's cleared off a bit. Okay?"

Grunting exasperatedly, Russetfur turned around and stomped of and disappearing into the mist. With a heavy sigh, Onewhisker walked after her.

"What's _her _problem?" Emberpaw huffed, smoothing out his ruffled fur.

Adderpaw looked at him as if he were insane. "Why do you always have to annoy her like that? One day she's going to claw you!"

"It's not _my _fault!" Emberpaw protested. "She's just so _touchy_. Honestly, why did Brackenstar have to give me _her _for a mentor? I'd almost prefer Sandstorm."

"Russetfur knows what she's doing." Adderpaw said. "Brackenstar probably has a reason."

Emberpaw glowered at him. "Not you too." He tilted his head, curiously. "How could you tell where I was?"

Adderpaw rolled his eyes. "It was easy. I _listened. _You were flailing about so much that even if I couldn't _see _you, I knew where you were."

"Oh…" Emberpaw felt his pelt grow hot.

"Come on." Adderpaw sighed. "I'm starving, and Ashfoot's hunting patrol should be back by now."

Without needing any further bidding, Emberpaw raced out of the thick grass, and into the small stretch of dirt that surrounded the abandoned twoleg nest from the rest of the enclosed territory around it. He ducked down through the hole in the wall of the crumbling formation and stepped into the make-shift camp, right next to the warrior's den.

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the suddenly dim light, and then he made a dash for the freshkill pile, mouth watering when he noticed how full it was. It was mostly mice, meaning that the patrol had probably been to the barn. He grabbed one off the top of the pile and then looked around the camp, searching for Lightningpaw. His heart sank a little when his friend was nowhere to be seen, and then turned toward the apprentice's den where his littermates were sitting.

"Emberpaw!" Rainpaw's warm voice greeted him. "Come talk with us."

Emberpaw accepted the invitation and squeezed right between them, ignoring Reedpaw's annoyed hiss. It wasn't often that all three of them got to be together. Rainpaw usually ate with her mentor, Cinderpelt, or was out gathering herbs, and Reedpaw had been oddly distant since they started their apprenticeship, opting to spent time with the older apprentices.

"Where's Lightningpaw?" Emberpaw asked.

"What?" Reedpaw teased, "You're blood kin aren't good enough for you?"

Emberpaw cuffed him on the side of the head. "Not now that you turned into such a bossy old furball."

Reedpaw huffed and flicked his brother with his tail. "She's out on patrol with Ravenwing and Wolfpaw."

"In this fog?" Emberpaw asked in disbelief.

"Why not?" Rainpaw shrugged. "Ravenwing knows the territory better than anyone else." There was a slight note of pride in her voice as she spoke of their father.

"Whatever." Emberpaw sighed, gulping down his last few bites of freshkill. "So what is it like, being a medicine cat?"

Rainpaw shuffled her paws awkwardly, like she always did when attention was on her. "It's okay so far. Mostly just gathering herbs, though there really aren't many around. We have to go into twoleg gardens in search of them a lot of the time. No one's gotten hurt in a while, so I haven't really gotten a chance to try actually treating anyone…"

"I can push Adderpaw into a thorn bush if you want." Emberpaw volunteered.

Rainpaw frowned at him. "I'm not saying that I _want _cats to get hurt, you mouse-brain!"

A loud yowl suddenly cut through the air, and the camp fell silent. A flurry of motion came from the entrance, and Ravenwing and Mistyfoot entered, a gray and white pelted form carried between them. Lightningpaw and Wolfpaw entered behind them, looking anxious.

"Smokepelt!" Brightheart jumped to her paws and ran over to them, staring worriedly at her fallen son.

"He's okay." Ravenwing assured in a tired voice. "We got attacked by a dog in the way back. He got a bad scratch on the side, but luckily there were cobwebs nearby, so we stopped the bleeding."

Reedpaw stared at Emberpaw and Rainpaw, wide eyed. "That's creepy. Do something else."

"Rainpaw!" Cinderpelt called from across the camp, beckoning to her apprentice.

Rainpaw leaped to her paws. "See you later guys!"

Reedpaw sighed as she padded away. "Guess you won't have to push Adderpaw in that thorn bush after all."

"Pity." Emberpaw muttered.

"What's a pity?"

Emberpaw turned around and saw Lightningpaw standing behind him, blue eyes drooping with exhaustion. She sat down beside them.

"Emberpaw was hoping to use Adderpaw's injuries to cheer up Rainpaw since she's never treated a patient…until now." Reedpaw explained.

"What happened to Adderpaw?" Lightningpaw asked, tilting her head to the side. "

"Nothing." Emberpaw sighed. "Yet. Did you really get attacked by a dog on patrol?"

Lightningpaw's lit up a little. "Yes! We were on our way back to the camp after patrolling the edge of the territory, and all the sudden this brown and black dog crashing out of one of the twoleg nests. Smokepelt hesitated. The dog didn't. We managed to send it with its tail between its legs before it could _really _hurt him though. The coward."

But despite his friend's confident voice, Emberpaw could barely make out undertones of anxiety. She was shaken. But he wasn't going to bring it up if she wasn't.

"Mouse-dung!" Emberpaw spat. "I miss all the interesting stuff." A pang of jealously left a foul taste in his mouth. He had hardly been more than a few fox lengths away from the camp since he had been made an apprentice. _He_ should have been on that patrol, fighting alongside his clan mates. Instead he had been stuck doing mouse-brained training in the fog.

"Don't worry." Lightningpaw purred. "You'll get to be in plenty of fights. No dog will be safe in Twoleg place!"

"Yeah." Emberpaw muttered. With a grunt, he pushed himself to his paws and stretched. "I'm tired. I'll see you guys later." And with that, he turned and padded into the apprentice's den, curling up in his nest, his face tucked under his paws.

There would be plenty more adventures to be had. Plenty of opportunities to prove himself. Sure there would be…

But still, even with Lightningpaw's teasing encouragement, Emberpaw wasn't so sure. He had been serious earlier when he had been arguing with Russetfur. Sure, they had the occasional problem with dogs, or loners that got too comfortable with the territory. But other than that? There was nothing. No rivals. No enemies that could be considered a real threat, unless you counted the twolegs and their monsters, which paid them no mind most of the time.

And when he thought about that, it really became apparent to him how desperate their clan really was. It wasn't the lack of prey, or the secretive lifestyle they had to live, constantly sneaking around in their own territory so that the twolegs wouldn't spot them. But it was something more, something Emberpaw had only just begun to notice in the past moons. A hollow look in the warriors' eyes, a deep longing he noticed when they spoke of the old clans, or of the way things used to be. And Starclan. They mentioned Starclan a lot too. It was the subtle way that Russetfur's voice would change when she preached about the warrior code as if it were some precious gift.

LionClan wasn't desperate for prey or for territory, though they could certainly use more of both. LionClan, or, at least the warriors in LionClan, were desperate to keep their code alive. They were stubbornly clinging to the old traditions of their past lives in the forest, afraid to let go for fear that then they would have truly lost _everything_.

But it was mouse-brained. At least, in Emberpaw's opinion. Half of the rules didn't apply now, anyway, now that they were pretty much the only clan besides BloodClan.

Emberpaw dug his claws into the strange wooden ground of the abandoned twoleg nest. He could still remember one day, two moons back, when he had still been a kit...

* * *

He sat outside the nursery, looking up at his father as he told him all about the warrior code.

"But Ravenwing?" Emberkit asked, frowning, "Why should we listen to the warrior code now?"

Ravenwing gave him a surprised look. "Why shouldn't we? It's a noble code to live by…"

"But not all the rules make sense!" Emberkit had protested. "It says not to hunt or trespass in another clan's territory!"

"So?" Ravenwing asked.

"So, why shouldn't we? BloodClan took _our_ territory. That territory is rightfully ours to hunt on. And Cinderpelt is always complaining because she can't get to the Moonstone to meet with Starclan because it would mean going through their territory. Why do we respect their borders when they wouldn't hesitate to trespass on ours?"

"Because we have honor!" Ravenwing said gently.

"It sounds more like cowardice!" Emberkit protested. "And besides, how can we hold gatherings when we're the only clan present? And why is '_the word of clan leader is the warrior code_' even there? Wouldn't that technically mean that what Scourge is doing is the warrior code since he says he's a clan leader? And the code says that we don't need to kill cats to defend ourselves. BloodClan definitely doesn't follow that rule!"

"We are not like BloodClan!" Ravenwing said. A deep firmness that Emberkit had never heard him use before entered his voice. "We have honor and a sense of justice!"

"We have honor, but they have _territory_." Emberkit pointed out.

"I think that's enough." Ravenwing said evenly. "We'll talk about this when you're older."

"I want to talk about it _now_! Why do we follow the warrior code when all it does is hold us back from what's rightfully ours?"

"Someday you will understand."

"I'm trying to understand _now_!"

Ravenwing sighed, his patience beginning to run thin. "Emberkit, the warrior code is meant to protect us. It ensures loyalty and respect for other lives at the same time, and allows us all to live in peace."

"But we don't live in peace! The creators of the warrior code never could have foreseen BloodClan taking over! Following the warrior code only made things worse!"

Ravenwing looked down at his son, stunned. "How's that?"

Emberkit's eyes narrowed. "Rule one: '_Defend_ _your clan, even if it costs you your life_.' How many cats died defending their clans in the battle against Bloodclan? From what I've heard, our clan only exists because the survivors gave up the fight. A few smart cats realized that it wasn't worth it, and they broke the code and fled the battle so that the very code that ordered them to fight to the death might live on. Isn't that a bit of a contradiction?"

Ravenwing was silent. Then, quietly, "Go play with your littermates, Emberkit." And then he stood and walked away, looking oddly mortified.

But later that evening, Emberkit was playing with Rainkit by the medicine cat's den, and heard Ravenwing talking to Cinderpelt.

"I'm worried about him," Ravenwing was confiding in her.

"He's a clever kit." Cinderpelt mused, not looking up from sorting through herbs. "That's not something to be worried about."

Emberkit tilted his head to the side. Who were they talking about?

"He argued the logic of the warrior code with me, Cinderpelt." Ravenwing said. "He actually understood all of what I was telling him. And he argued about it. He didn't just scratch the surface, he really got into it. No kit's that…perceptive."

The kit's eyes narrowed. They were talking about him.

"So he's a prodigy." Cinderpelt mused, flicking Ravenwing on the shoulder with her tail tip. "It's just a faze. All cats question the code sometime or another. Emberkit is just a little ahead of everyone else, that's it."

Ravenwing shook his head. "You should have heard him though. I swear, for a moment, I thought that I was talking to Brackenstar, the way he was reasoning everything out, thinking about it all."

"Then he will grow to be wise." Cinderpelt finally turned and looked at Ravenwing, blue eyes glowing. "Who knows, he might even make a fine leader some day."

Emberkit, held back a squeak, his eyes widening. Silently as he could, he backed away, making sure he wasn't seen. Somehow, he was sure he wasn't supposed to be hearing any of this. Once he was out of range, he darted away to the nursery, blood pounding in his ears.

He collapsed in his nest, relived that everyone else was playing just outside. He tucked his muzzle under his paws, and glared at the ground. Ravenwing thought there was something wrong with him. Why? Because he wasn't mouse-brained like everyone else?

From that day forward, Emberkit never looked at his father in quite the same way again. Or the other warriors for that matter. He didn't bring up the warrior code again, not even after he was made an apprentice. Because one thing was for certain.

No matter how good your reasoning, and no matter what the circumstances were, you did not question the warrior code. Because LionClan had nothing without its way of life.


	6. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four

* * *

**

_Dark, shadowy images flickered through his dreams as his mind danced between wakefulness and sleep._

_A snowy white queen, walking away, leaving him curled up in the shelter of a bush, not even glance back at him as she spoke. "I'm just going hunting, Briar. Stay here and take care of Stumble. I'll be back soon."_

_Moonlight glinting in the heavens, seeming to glare down at him as he dashed through the night, laughing with joy at the feeling of freedom coursing through his veins. Wouldn't his mother be surprised when she realized that he had followed her!_

_Confusion squeezing his chest when he saw them, three strange cats with eyes that glittered cruelly in the half-light. His mother standing with her fur bristling, cornered against the wall of a twoleg nest. They hissed at her, approaching her as a hunter would approach a mouse. He didn't like it; he wanted them to go away._

"_This is _our _territory!" one of rouges hissed. _

"_I-I didn't know!" his mother said, cowering defensively to the ground._

_Another cat chuckled. "You hear that? She didn't _know_ this was our place."_

_The third cat flexed his claws. "Well I say we teacher her a lesson so she won't forget!"He sprang forward, claws ripping into her flank. _

_Briar stood, watching in horror as the terrible cats attacked his mother, completely frozen, unable to move, unable to turn away. All he could do was cower to the ground, mouth open in a silent scream._

_And then his mother saw him, and her eyes widened. She stood, shaking on the ground, snowy white pelt stained crimson. _

_Her cry rang in his ears, a haunting echo. "Briar, run!"_

_And then she had fallen silent as the lead rouge's teeth closed over her throat. _

_And all he could do was stand there, staring at his mother's still form, and the three rouge cats that had taken her away. _

_And that was the first time in Briar's life that he felt the icy chill of hate creep into his veins.

* * *

_

Briarpaw felt a sharp prod in his side, and his eyes snapped open, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He leaped to his paws, eyes whipping around wildly for any signs of attack…

"Jumpy much?"

Briarpaw forced his fur to lie flat, recognizing the voice instantly. But then, Ratpaw's voice wasn't one to easily be forgotten: perpetually raspy, as if she were recovering from a bad cough, and always with cynical undertone.

"What do you want?" Briarpaw muttered, narrowing his eyes at the dark gray tabby she-cat sitting in front of him.

Ratpaw stared back at him with a bored expression. "Honestly, I'm hurt Briarpaw. Is that any way to greet a friend?"

For a moment, the two silently locked gazes, both of their faces blank and impassive. Several heart beats passed, and finally Briarpaw let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. Ratpaw grinned in triumph. It had sort of become a game between the two, to see who could keep their staring contest the longest without showing any emotion. Somehow, Briarpaw was never able to keep it up for long, while Ratpaw could probably hold the pose for days.

"_Hello _Ratpaw. What do you want?" Briarpaw looked up at dawn sky, narrowing his eyes. "I have to meet Granite for training soon."

"No you don't." Ratpaw say absently.

Briarpaw looked at his friend as if she had completely lost it. "Uh, yes. I do."

"No you don't." Ratpaw said again, more firmly this time. When Briarpaw started to protest, she flicked her tail to signal that she had more to say. "No you don't; Bone came through the area a little while ago telling every cat he saw to get their tails over to the Meeting Place."

Briarpaw's eyes widened. "_Why_?"

Besides taking census of new kits and apprentices and settling major disputes, Scourge didn't really interact with other cats. Meetings were held only for two reasons: to inform the clan of a matter of extreme importance that would require the work of more than a few warriors (which had never happened in Briarpaw's lifetime in BloodClan) or the Rite of Passage ceremony.

Ratpaw merely shrugged. "Won't know until we get there I guess."

With a sigh Briarpaw stretched out his stiff limbs and turned to his sleeping brother. Stumblepaw was still peacefully curled up in his nest of moss in the patch of ferns they had claimed as their den. Hesitantly, he poked his smaller brother in the side to wake him.

"Hey, Stumblepaw, get up."

Stumblepaw blinked awake and stared up at Briarpaw in confusion. "Wha-what?" He yawned widely and gave his fur a shake. "What's going on?...Oh, hey Ratpaw."

"Scourge called a meeting." Briarpaw said. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

Stumblepaw was immediately up, getting unsteadily to his paws. "What's going on? Is there trouble?"

"Don't think so." Ratpaw said, shrugging. "Probably just a Rite of Passage. Badgerpaw is at the end of his training."

"Oh." Stumblepaw's eyes brightened in eagerness. "I've never seen the actual ceremony before. Hawk wouldn't let us go last time because we were still in the nursery."

Briarpaw felt a rush of warmth at the mention of the she-cat who had taken them in when they first joined BloodClan as kits. Hawk had been one of the cats on the patrol that had found them, and she had been the one to convince the clan to let them in, treating them as her own, having lost her own litter to illness.

"It's not much." Ratpaw admitted. It took a moment for Briarpaw to remember that she was older than him, if only by a few moons. "Scourge just calls up the apprentice in front of the entire clan and has them undergo a test to prove their loyalty to the clan. The last cat had to battle his own mentor." She drew her claws, waving her unsheathed paw through the air. "Claws _out_."

Stumblepaw gasped. "Weren't they hurt?"

"Yeah." Ratpaw mewed passively. "They both got pretty scratched up. But they both lived, which I hear is better than some ceremonies…"

Briarpaw shot her a deadly look, stopping her words in their tracks.

Stumblepaw's eyes were wide. "What?"

"Nothing." Briarpaw said swiftly. "Come on, what are we standing around for?"

Before either could respond, Briarpaw took off toward the Meeting Place, adjusting his speed so that it was just slow enough so that Stumblepaw could keep up. Within a few heartbeats, Ratpaw was matching him stride for stride. He didn't miss the glance gave him, her strange gray eyes narrowed to slits.

_You can't protect him forever. He's an apprentice now, not a kit. Sooner or later he has to grow up…_

Briarpaw narrowed his eyes back at her. Perhaps he was being stubborn. Perhaps Stumblepaw _did _need a reality check. But there was no way Briarpaw was going to be the one to initiate it. He wasn't going to be the one to sit back and watch the light die from his brother's eyes, to the hollow shells of the warriors they lived around.

For a while, the three seemed to be alone, running through the trees along the river, frosty ground making their paws sting with cold. Gradually though, more and more cats appeared, until the three apprentices were forced to slow to a walk as they joined the large throng of cats gathering at the Meeting Place.

Stumblepaw bounced on his paws, trying to get a glimpse of the Leader's Rock over all of the larger cats crowding together, all pushing down into the clearing. Four great oaks towered over them on the four corners of the clearing, casting menacing shadows on them.

Briarpaw's ears were pressed down flat to his head as they navigated through the crowd. He had never been stuck together with so many other cats before! Despite the fact that everyone in the clearing was part of BloodClan, few cats actually associated with each other besides the queens and kits, who all lived in the Nursery Gorge together. After kits were determined to be old enough to receive training, Bone would assign each kit a mentor, kick them out of the Nursery Gorge, change their name to 'paw, and declared them apprentices. After that, you were pretty much on your own. Some apprentices lived along side their mentors, but most stayed with their littermates, meeting daily with their mentors for battle training, and hunting tips if their mentor was generous. When you became a warrior, that was it. Warriors lived alone, and fended for themselves, only coming together if called upon by one of the elite warriors for a patrol or assignment. Other than that, your survival was in your own paws.

Briarpaw nearly jumped out of his fur when he ran head long into a familiar light brown tabby pelt. He scrambled backwards, tripping his own paws in his haste.

"Briarpaw!" The she-cat looked down at him, amusement glowing in her amber eyes. "Still always in a hurry I see."

Briarpaw opened his mouth to comment, only to be interrupted by Stumblepaw's excited voice.

"Hawk!" his brother rushed forward, nearly bowling them both over.

Hawk purred. "Hello Stumblepaw. My, you've both grown since you left the nursery."

Briarpaw felt his pelt grow hot with embarrassment at his adopted mother's comment, feeling Ratpaw's amused gaze on him.

"Greetings Hawk." Ratpaw said courteously.

Hawk gave Ratpaw a warm look. "Ratpaw. The last time I say you, you were still suckling in the nursery. Are these two mouse-brains giving you any trouble?"

Ratpaw grinned mischievously, "I keep them in order."

Briarpaw scowled at the two she-cats. "I don't need to be _kept in order_." He huffed indignantly.

"Yeah! We're apprentices now." Stumblepaw puffed his chest out proudly, and then became unbalanced and fell forward, nearly doing a face plant on the ground. Briarpaw sighed, watching Stumblepaw scramble to regain his footing.

He glanced up at Hawk, catching the flicker of fretful worry, and a small hint of something else in her eyes as she looked at his brother. Briarpaw narrowed his eyes, remember another she-cat that used to look at Stumblepaw the same way.

_You're not our mother! _He hissed mentally, sinking his claws into the ground.

All conversation ended as a loud yowl rang through the clearing. Bone's stern, gruff voice boomed through the clearing, commanding all cats to order. "Let this meeting of BloodClan begin!"

A deafening yowl of approval came from the gathered cats, making Briarpaw's ears ring. The sound only grew louder as a sleek black tom jumped up onto the Leader's Rock, and held his head proudly to the sky, the many dogs' teeth that studded his collar gleaming in the sunlight.

Scourge. The BloodClan Leader.

"Come on." Ratpaw whispered to him. "Let's get a closer look." Not waiting for a response, she darted forward, weaving her way through the throng of warriors, ignoring the reproachful glances shot her way.

Briarpaw rolled his eyes and followed, tapping Stumblepaw on the shoulder with his tail to get his attention so that he wouldn't get lost in the crowd. He could hear Hawk's weary sigh as she followed behind dutifully. _Once a queen, always a queen._

By now, Scourge had started addressing the clan, his voice appeasing as honey, smooth as the thin coat of ice that had formed on the river's surface a few mornings ago. Briarpaw finally managed to squeeze through the last of the gathered cats, and found himself standing next to Ratpaw at the front of the crowd, in full view of their leader.

"_That's _Scourge?" Stumblepaw whispered to Ratpaw in surprise.

"Shhh!" Ratpaw hissed. "Don't let him hear you."

Briarpaw stared up at the small tom, feeling a flash of disappointment. He had seen Scourge a number of times before as a kit, but somehow he had seemed…well, _bigger_ then.

"Cats of BloodClan!" Scourge said, sweeping his icy gaze over the gathered clan. Briarpaw shuddered as he remembered Darkflower's similar eyes staring at him. "The time had come to welcome another young warrior to our ranks!"

Yowls of approval roared like thunder.

Scourge patiently waved his tail for silence. "Badgerpaw, the time has come for you to prove yourself to your clan."

_Ratpaw was right. _Briarpaw noted. _It _is _only a Rite of Passage ceremony. _Some of the tension in his chest eased.

From the other side of the clearing, a black and white apprentice stepped forward, a determined look in his eyes. Badgerpaw, Briarpaw recognized from the few times he had seen the tom around.

Scourge looked down at the apprentice, speaking only to the young cat below him, as if the rest of the crowd didn't exist. "The time has come!" he repeated. "To prove to us your honor! Your skill! Your loyalty! Your Rite of Passage into our ranks!"

Badgerpaw help his head high. "I'm ready!" he called, unsheathing his claws. "Tell me what I have to do!"

And suddenly, Scourge's expression changed. No longer was his face a calm, almost friendly mask. Scourge smiled, and it wasn't a genuine smile, but one of hidden malice and pleasure. Briarpaw felt the knot in his gut tighten ever so slightly.

"Good." Scourge crooned. He turned to the rest of the clan. "It has come to my attention, that there is a traitor among us!"

Ripples of shock went through the clearing. Briarpaw's eyes narrowed.

"A traitor?" Stumblepaw whispered bewilderedly. "Who would be so stupid?"Hawk hushed him with a flick of her tail. Her face was set in a grim mask.

Scourge waited for the shock to die down. "Badgerpaw, to prove your loyalty to BloodClan, teach this treacherous one that our order does not bend. You will deliver his punishment."

Movement from the other side of the clearing. Cats were shuffling aside, making way as a group of warriors, all clad in collars of dogs' teeth and reinforced claws escorted someone forward. The Scourge's Elite Warriors, and the traitor.

And suddenly, the crowd parted, and a single cat was shoved forward into the clearing.

The first thing Briarpaw noticed was that he sure didn't look like a traitor, and he wasn't cowering to the ground in fear like any other sane cat might have. He didn't beg for mercy; he didn't breathe a word. He just stood in the middle of the clearing, staring up at Scourge with such a look of hate and defiance that it made the fur on the back of Briarpaw's neck rise.

Stumblepaw gasped beside him, as did Hawk, and Ratpaw too. At first, Briarpaw was confused. He couldn't recall every seeing this cat before, surely he would have remembered such an air of calm and resolve.

And then, he breathed in, and his eyes widened. _I recognize that scent. I recognize that tabby pelt! _

"Littlecloud!" Stumblepaw yowled, half lunging forward. Instinctively, Briarpaw, leaned forward and grabbed his brother by the scruff, holding him in place. Ratpaw pressed her tail against his mouth to keep him from crying out again. Things were bad enough as they were without Stumblepaw drawing attention to them.

Littlecloud stood in the clearing, standing tall. Badgerpaw circled him, tail lashing from side to side, looking like he was stalking prey.

A chorus of scattered taunts rose from the gathered cats. But Littlecloud didn't speak. He didn't even acknowledge any of them.

Suddenly, Badgerpaw pounced. Littlecloud tried to dodge to the side, but wasn't quite fast enough. Badgerpaw's claws sank into the medicine cat's shoulder. Littlecloud whipped around and racked his claws across Badgerpaw's muzzle. Howling in pain, Badgerpaw released his opponent, and Littlecloud dove forward, making to attack the younger cat's underbelly.

But Badgerpaw saw it coming, and batted him to the side, like a kit batting at a leaf. Littlecloud was knocked to the ground, and Badgerpaw had him pinned in less than heartbeat, claws digging into the medicine cat's flank.

Stumblepaw thrashed wildly, eyes open wide in panic. Briarpaw was forced to pull harder on his scruff to keep him in place, digging his teething into his fur further than he would have liked to keep his hold. A little bit of his regret about his harsh hold fell away when he noticed a small trickle of blood coming from Stumblepaw's mouth as the smaller tom dug his needle-like teeth into Ratpaw's tail. Ratpaw visibly gritted her teeth in pain.

Littlecloud was up again, blood flowing freely from his pelt. The two toms circled each other, eyes locked in combat. This time, Littlecloud made the first move, lunging forward to unbalance Badgerpaw. But the apprentice didn't even stagger as Littlecloud thrust his paws into his shoulder, and instead swiped Littlecloud's paws out from underneath him, sending him tumbling to the ground. Badgerpaw pinned him by the shoulders.

For a few heartbeats, Littlecloud batted at Badgerpaw's underbelly, but the apprentice pressed his claws against his throat, baring his teeth threateningly.

"What do you have to say for yourself traitor?" Scourge asked Littlecloud coolly. "Did you honestly think you would get away with treachery in BloodClan?"

Littlecloud glared up at Scourge with a fire in his eyes that Briarpaw had never imagined would be possible for a simple medicine cat to posses. And then, for the first time, he spoke.

The medicine cat stared up at Scourge disdainfully. "If trying to preserve honor is treachery, then I am fully guilty. And hear this, Scourge of BloodClan, you may destroy me now, but you will never destroy all of us. As long as one true warrior heart still beats, StarClan thrives."

Scourge scoffed. "StarClan. Foolish superstition of an inferior existence. What have I to fear from dead cat?" Scourge gave Littlecloud one last, passive look and then looked back to Badgerpaw. "Kill him."

The yowl of approval that rose from his clan mates was only matched by Stumblepaw's muffled scream as Badgerpaw sank his claws into Littlecloud's throat. And, even though Briarpaw couldn't have logically seen it from where he stood, he was almost certain he saw the light fade from the medicine cat's eyes as the life bled out of him.

Stumblepaw went limp where he stood. It wasn't gradual, he just sort of collapsed, completely silent, eyes wide with such pain that Briarpaw felt, in that moment, both their hearts break as one. Stumblepaw for the kind medicine cat who had been the closest thing he had ever had to a father, and Briarpaw because he recognized the look in his younger brother's eyes, from once before in a time that they had both tried to leave behind…

_He stood, heart pounding in his chest, having run, and not stopped running, even long after the rouges had stopped chasing him. The small kit in the nest in front of him blinked awake, and looked up at him, confused. _

Briarpaw hardly even heard Scourge addressing the clan any more. Another voice was echoing in his head.

"_Briar, where's Mom?"_

"With the honor of BloodClan," Scourge proclaimed. "I name you Badgerstripe, a full clan warrior!"

_He had trembled where he stood. Because, how could he tell him? What could he say that could possibly explain away what had happened?_

Ratpaw pried her tail free from Stumblepaw's mouth, and Briarpaw released his hold, crouching down next to his brother. Stumblepaw stared at the ground with dead eyes.

"Is he really g-gone?" he whispered hoarsely.

Briarpaw stared at his brother, memories over lapping reality. He didn't even notice that many of the cats were already departing, or the fact that Scourge was still sitting on his rock, his eyes narrowed with interest as he watched the two distressed brothers.

Stumblepaw buried his head in his brother's pelt, and Briarpaw whispered in his brother's ear, words feeling like poison on his tongue, just as they had that day.

"Yes, Stumblepaw, Littlecloud is dead."

"…_Mom is dead." _


	7. Sorry, AN

**Okay, here's the deal: I haven't been updating this because I've been busy and frankly because there hasn't been much feedback so I figured not many people were interested anyway. Anyone who has read my other story, The Truth About Warriors, knows how inconsistent I am with updates (which I once again apologies for.)Knowing my own lazy habits, I'm hesitant to continue writing this when I have trouble keeping track of my other story. To be honest, I was on the verge of dropping this all together. **

**However, a good friend of mine found the story a few months ago, and, being a talented young artist who has a love of animation, decided that she wanted to make it into an animated series. Since I still love the OCs in this story and the plot, I decided to colab with her and we work on it in our spare time. We haven't gotten very far with it, and frankly it will be a miracle if we get it finished, but I find the effort has made me interested in this story again. **

**So, I'm willing to try again with this story, but if I do, I'm probably going to scrap this draft and repost it with a few differences. I want to know if people would be interested if I continue with this story line and if I should bother continuing or not. **

**Please, if you can spare a moment, tell me what you think. **

**~DD**


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